1968 Plymouth Road Runner

KMachine · 09-21-2011, 05:30 PM

I have a 69 383 4-speed RR. Red with a black vinyl top. I brought the car a couple of years ago from, Paul Wong.

MEMORIES · 09-21-2011, 05:52 PM

Lunati RL980 was the camshaft everyone was using in the 440's around here in the seventies. My brother had a 67 Dodge RT. He bought a 440 that Johnny Labbous had taken out of his SS/GA Roadrunner and put it in the RT. Talk about a wild street car!

Wayne

Paul Ceasrine · 09-21-2011, 05:56 PM

One of the sharpest looking Road Runners I ever saw,
back in 1968, a hardtop 383 Road Runner.

White with a black vinyl top,,,,,,,,,and the black matte hood.
Keystone Klassic wheels,,,,,Goodyear Polyglass R-W-L tires
with G-70 x 15's on the front, and G-60 x 15's on the back.

Really a simple addition to the car, that made it stand out.....
It looked fast,,,,,,and clean....

pc

treessavoy · 09-21-2011, 06:20 PM

'68 B5 blue Hemi, auto, dana. Just got home from Viet Nam and saw the ad in the Atlanta paper, the owner was in Viet Nam and told his parents to sell it. Bought it in Sep. '70 for $1,275.00 with a new aamco trans.

Sure wish I had it back!

JimR

Frank Castros · 09-21-2011, 06:44 PM

The hot cam for 440s back then was the Isky 1012B, which was essentially a Max Wedge Stage III grind.

Through the mufflers that cam sounded so intimidating.

There was a black '69 GTX with a white vinyl roof and Cragar S/S that had that cam in it. It was one bad boy.

Hemi Moose · 09-21-2011, 07:20 PM

Dyno · 09-21-2011, 09:04 PM

In 1979 I bought a new Z 28 and drove it through the summer. Because I live in Minnesota and they salt the roads daily from early November to the end of March, I wanted to put the Camaro away for the winter. So I started to look for a good winter beater that I could sell in the spring and not lose alot of money on. I found a 40,000 mile 69 Roadrunner for sale for $1500.00 that was a 383/auto and drove that through the winter. It started every day, even at -30 degree mornings. It was a little hard on gas, so I checked the rear gear, turned out to be a 3.91. I pulled it out and put in a 3.08 I think, funny thing is it turned it from a fun car to drive to a total slug, plus my mileage never really improved. I kept the car for two years and sold it for $2000.00 Never thought my "beater" would be more valuable than the Camaro. Like many, wish I had it back. Dyno

Jeff Lee · 09-21-2011, 10:02 PM

In early 80's a friend had a '70 RR with 440-6 and a column shifted 727. Dana 4.10 & Air Grabber. It was Vitamin C with white bench interior and the "Trail Duster" side strip. I still think that is one of the best looking cars. This car was bone stock, mufflers and OEM style tires. He was obsessed with minimizing the ET in complete factory stock condition. He got it down to 13.72. I remember driving the car. I have to believe with slicks it would have gone into the twelves because from a 25-35 MPH role and dropping it into low, it was an animal. Wish I could remember the MPH it produced because that would be telling.

In the late '80's a friend restored an A12 Super Bee. 440 Six Barrel, 4-speed, 3.54 Dana. All stock except it did have higher compression domed pistons. At the same time, I restored a '66 HEMI Satellite with 4-speed and 3.54 Dana. We raced 3 times on a back road. I wish I had video. Classic B body HEMI vs. Six-Pack, same trans, same gears. Each race was the same. Six-Pack has the lead in first and second with the HEMI making up lost ground at the top of second, third gear the HEMI is dead even, forth gear the HEMI puts a fender on the Six-Pack and by the top of 4th, the HEMI is a fender and maybe part of a door ahead. In a typical in-town street race the Six-Pack would be the victor. Of course the Six-Pack did have some more compression than stock.

What is also interesting is the GTX vs. RR. The GTX came standard with a 440/375 and was a little bit heavier. The RR was standard with a 383 and you had two engine options; Six-Pack ('69 or '70) or HEMI ('68-'70 not counting the '71 models). In my mind, the GTX should be worth more than a 383 RR. But that's not the case in today's muscle car market. The RR is hands down the winner over a 440 GTX. And the '68-'70 RR will out sell the '68-'70 Super Bee.

Bill,
The same guy that had the '70 RR above also had a '64 Signet. It was a well known early '70's street racer in the Phoenix area. It was built by a guy that cut weight out of everything. A100 seats, home made aluminum single resivoir master cylinder, aluminum nuts and bolts and acid dipped body parts. It was plain silver. When my friend owned it, he had a bone stock '70 340 with cast exhaust manifolds in it with an A833 & 4.56's. It ran high 11's. He added a cam, fenderwell headers, a hi-rise and Holley and it was a 10 second car. This was around 1980 and a 10 second 340 was pretty darn
fast. Neil Smedly owned the car for awhile and he sold it to somebody. The car has completely dropped off the radar. I'm sure it's a roach by now but I sure would love to own that car.

Jim Wahl · 09-21-2011, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyno

In 1979 I bought a new Z 28 and drove it through the summer. Because I live in Minnesota and they salt the roads daily from early November to the end of March, I wanted to put the Camaro away for the winter. So I started to look for a good winter beater that I could sell in the spring and not lose alot of money on. I found a 40,000 mile 69 Roadrunner for sale for $1500.00 that was a 383/auto and drove that through the winter. It started every day, even at -30 degree mornings. It was a little hard on gas, so I checked the rear gear, turned out to be a 3.91. I pulled it out and put in a 3.08 I think, funny thing is it turned it from a fun car to drive to a total slug, plus my mileage never really improved. I kept the car for two years and sold it for $2000.00 Never thought my "beater" would be more valuable than the Camaro. Like many, wish I had it back. Dyno

Had to be a 2.73 or a 3.23 rear gear. Jim

.

Jeff Kempton · 09-21-2011, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyno

I found a 40,000 mile 69 Roadrunner for sale for $1500.00 that was a 383/auto and drove that through the winter. Dyno

I did the same thing; except my winter beater in '79 was an original owner unmodified '69 Swinger 340/auto. However, it was pretty rusty so I felt justified. I sold it to a guy the next spring and he transferred all the correct drivetrain and accessories into his own highly modified '69 340 Swinger to return it to stock, but not until after he bracket raced my old car all summer and had a ball!

09-21-2011, 05:30 PM	#1
KMachine Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 13 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner I have a 69 383 4-speed RR. Red with a black vinyl top. I brought the car a couple of years ago from, Paul Wong.

09-21-2011, 05:52 PM	#2
MEMORIES Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 298 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner Lunati RL980 was the camshaft everyone was using in the 440's around here in the seventies. My brother had a 67 Dodge RT. He bought a 440 that Johnny Labbous had taken out of his SS/GA Roadrunner and put it in the RT. Talk about a wild street car! Wayne

09-21-2011, 05:56 PM	#3
Paul Ceasrine VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2,546 Likes: 0 Liked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner One of the sharpest looking Road Runners I ever saw, back in 1968, a hardtop 383 Road Runner. White with a black vinyl top,,,,,,,,,and the black matte hood. Keystone Klassic wheels,,,,,Goodyear Polyglass R-W-L tires with G-70 x 15's on the front, and G-60 x 15's on the back. Really a simple addition to the car, that made it stand out..... It looked fast,,,,,,and clean.... pc

09-21-2011, 06:20 PM	#4
treessavoy VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dunnellon,FL Posts: 1,103 Likes: 0 Liked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner '68 B5 blue Hemi, auto, dana. Just got home from Viet Nam and saw the ad in the Atlanta paper, the owner was in Viet Nam and told his parents to sell it. Bought it in Sep. '70 for $1,275.00 with a new aamco trans. Sure wish I had it back! JimR __________________ Jim Rountree

09-21-2011, 06:44 PM	#5
Frank Castros VIP Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The Lowcountry. Posts: 3,016 Likes: 2,718 Liked 2,789 Times in 982 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner The hot cam for 440s back then was the Isky 1012B, which was essentially a Max Wedge Stage III grind. Through the mufflers that cam sounded so intimidating. There was a black '69 GTX with a white vinyl roof and Cragar S/S that had that cam in it. It was one bad boy. Last edited by Frank Castros; 09-21-2011 at 06:47 PM.

09-21-2011, 07:20 PM	#6
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner Last edited by Hemi Moose; 09-21-2011 at 07:28 PM.

09-21-2011, 09:04 PM	#7
Dyno Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 920 Likes: 1,155 Liked 695 Times in 206 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner In 1979 I bought a new Z 28 and drove it through the summer. Because I live in Minnesota and they salt the roads daily from early November to the end of March, I wanted to put the Camaro away for the winter. So I started to look for a good winter beater that I could sell in the spring and not lose alot of money on. I found a 40,000 mile 69 Roadrunner for sale for $1500.00 that was a 383/auto and drove that through the winter. It started every day, even at -30 degree mornings. It was a little hard on gas, so I checked the rear gear, turned out to be a 3.91. I pulled it out and put in a 3.08 I think, funny thing is it turned it from a fun car to drive to a total slug, plus my mileage never really improved. I kept the car for two years and sold it for $2000.00 Never thought my "beater" would be more valuable than the Camaro. Like many, wish I had it back. Dyno

09-21-2011, 10:02 PM	#8
Jeff Lee VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Anthem, Arizona Posts: 2,766 Likes: 0 Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner In early 80's a friend had a '70 RR with 440-6 and a column shifted 727. Dana 4.10 & Air Grabber. It was Vitamin C with white bench interior and the "Trail Duster" side strip. I still think that is one of the best looking cars. This car was bone stock, mufflers and OEM style tires. He was obsessed with minimizing the ET in complete factory stock condition. He got it down to 13.72. I remember driving the car. I have to believe with slicks it would have gone into the twelves because from a 25-35 MPH role and dropping it into low, it was an animal. Wish I could remember the MPH it produced because that would be telling. In the late '80's a friend restored an A12 Super Bee. 440 Six Barrel, 4-speed, 3.54 Dana. All stock except it did have higher compression domed pistons. At the same time, I restored a '66 HEMI Satellite with 4-speed and 3.54 Dana. We raced 3 times on a back road. I wish I had video. Classic B body HEMI vs. Six-Pack, same trans, same gears. Each race was the same. Six-Pack has the lead in first and second with the HEMI making up lost ground at the top of second, third gear the HEMI is dead even, forth gear the HEMI puts a fender on the Six-Pack and by the top of 4th, the HEMI is a fender and maybe part of a door ahead. In a typical in-town street race the Six-Pack would be the victor. Of course the Six-Pack did have some more compression than stock. What is also interesting is the GTX vs. RR. The GTX came standard with a 440/375 and was a little bit heavier. The RR was standard with a 383 and you had two engine options; Six-Pack ('69 or '70) or HEMI ('68-'70 not counting the '71 models). In my mind, the GTX should be worth more than a 383 RR. But that's not the case in today's muscle car market. The RR is hands down the winner over a 440 GTX. And the '68-'70 RR will out sell the '68-'70 Super Bee. Bill, The same guy that had the '70 RR above also had a '64 Signet. It was a well known early '70's street racer in the Phoenix area. It was built by a guy that cut weight out of everything. A100 seats, home made aluminum single resivoir master cylinder, aluminum nuts and bolts and acid dipped body parts. It was plain silver. When my friend owned it, he had a bone stock '70 340 with cast exhaust manifolds in it with an A833 & 4.56's. It ran high 11's. He added a cam, fenderwell headers, a hi-rise and Holley and it was a 10 second car. This was around 1980 and a 10 second 340 was pretty darn fast. Neil Smedly owned the car for awhile and he sold it to somebody. The car has completely dropped off the radar. I'm sure it's a roach by now but I sure would love to own that car. __________________ Jeff Lee 7494 D/S '70 AMX Last edited by Jeff Lee; 09-21-2011 at 10:16 PM.